2019 Winter NAMM Show MIDI Highlights!

The NAMM Show is the pulse of the music industry. The 2019 Winter NAMM Show lived up to expectations with 115,000+ attendees and 2,000 exhibiting member companies. Most notable, there was a 14% increase in international participants, boosting the global importance of The NAMM Show. It's always a pure delight to attend the Winter NAMM Show. This year's event from January 24 to 27, exceeded all of my expectations. The expanded Anaheim Convention Center hosted a dynamic array of brands, special events set to live music, celebrity appearances, and interviews with the world's top musical innovators, artists, and professionals, along with educational sessions tied to today's trends

I was pleasantly surprised to discover 20+ booths side-by-side featuring an array of new MIDI products and applications. To see 35 photos of these booths and their unique MIDI products, go to: http://jalbum.net/a/1917003. In addition, there were numerous booths located throughout the convention center with MIDI-driven products from prominent manufacturers such as Avid, MakeMusic, Yamaha, Roland and others. Here are some highlights of the new MIDI products presented at this year's show:

Bome Software displayed its flagship software, Bome MIDI Translator Pro, and the BomeBox, a MIDI translation and processing box. The box connects and routes MIDI devices connected via its USB host, MIDI DIN, and Ethernet connectors as well as via the built-in wireless network. New firmware adds support for translating computer (HID) keyboards and number pads to MIDI. Bome Software also announced that it has started prototyping the MIDI 2.0 protocol, which is currently being developed by the MIDI Manufacturers Association.

music.iLuv is an augmented-reality social music application for creating, practicing and performing in groups such as classroom, virtual classroom, private or public groups of childrern or adults who want to make music regardless of their background or skill level. The music.iLuv application uses MIDI technology in multiple areas. The software can provide live feedback to users during MIDI instrument practice sessions. Users can merge their MIDI and audio tracks and play with 3D virtual bands, orchestras and ensembles.

music.iLuv2 N. 1st Street, Suite 500San Jose, CA 95113650-704-9457

Mukikim announced their new Studio Piano and New Studio Drums. These MIDI compatible instruments offer more advanced electronics with a built in speaker powered by a lithium rechargeable battery.

Piano de Voyage is a digital piano keyboard fully focused on portability. Its modular design makes it the ideal travel companion for keyboardists looking for a full-size keyboard they can carry in a cabin bag or a small backpack.

KAGURA is a revolutionary digital instrument that lets you make music simply by gesturing. A computer and a web camera are all you need. From professional musicians to beginners, everyone can create original songs and performances easily.

The Counterpoint Calculator is a plugin for all major DAWs. This tool helps composers speed up their compositional process. It allows users to write a short motif, specify the harmonic sequence of the piece of music and, from there the plugin composes the rest of the notes.

The Effigy Control Pedal is a programmable MIDI controller, playable and responsive enough for keyboardists' pitch bend and mod wheel work, allowing the player's comping (left) hand to stay on the keys where it belongs.

BandLab is a free, easy-to-use, all-in-one, social music creation platform with more than 5 million active users creating new music and collaborating all over the world. With BandLab for Education, the company is bringing its award-winning music creation features to classrooms in order to empower teachers and their students with everything they need for collaborative and fun learning. Nothing to patch or install – BandLab's FREE cloud-based platform works on Mac, Windows, Linux, and Chromebooks.

Band-in-a-Box is a landmark accompaniment generator since 1988 for authentic sounding backtracks for songwriting, learning and teaching and music production ranging from country to jazz to rock with over 6,500 different musical styles to use, augment, create and perform from. Prominent new features include a 64-bit (32-bit version included) and a VST DAW Plugin. This is a separate application that works directly inside your DAW (Cakewalk, Reaper, Pro Tools PreSonus etc.) to generate styles. RealTracks, RealDrums, Multi-Riffs and more.

EarMaster improves the way music theory and ear training is learned at home and in music schools by offering musicians interactive daily practice routines. Nominated at the 32nd NAMM TEC Awards, EarMaster is currently available on PC, Mac, and iPad. It includes audio-to-MIDI technology, MIDI I/O and SoundFont playback support. EarMaster Cloud educational solution enables music schools to easily integrate it into teaching programs.

John Kuzmich, Jr. Ph.D. is a veteran music educator, jazz educator and music technologist who has taught on five continents. Dr Kuzmich won five Gold Medals as a band director at the World Music Contest in Kerkrade, Netherlands. His music talents are wide-spread as an accomplished conductor, performer, clinician, author, technologist and educator making him a creative music studio teacher for every level of student.​

About the author

John Kuzmich, Jr. Ph.D. is a veteran music educator, jazz educator and music technologist who has taught on five continents. Dr Kuzmich won five Gold Medals as a band director at the World Music Contest in Kerkrade, Netherlands. His music talents are wide-spread as an accomplished conductor, performer, clinician, author, technologist and educator which help to make him a very creative music studio teacher regardless of the level of the student.